Today marks the end of the a700 as a "new" camera. It has been "officially" discontinued.

A remarkable camera.

It will be remembered ...

Where did that come from?

"officially" discontinued = "discontinued in the country where I can get a warranty"

B&H no longer has the A700 listed, Sony USA has the A700 kits listed as 'discontinued', they have the A700 'body only' listed http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665227951, but it's 'out of stock'
"It's all over now..baby blue"
bye bye A700...sniff
Greg

Speaking of Baby Blue, I really loved that Badfinger song. Here they perform it in 1972 on TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C53QAuOoSgc

I do believe the A700 is discontinued - in fact I have believed it ceased to be manufactured over six months ago, maybe even as long as 18 months ago, with the A700 line being taken up by A900 production (a stockpile of parts for assembly in hand for 2009 A700s). Similarly, I believe that the A900 is discontinued as a production item and that this same line has been making A850s for over six months.

This is how DSLR production works - a set of production contracts created the cameras for a period, but the model is available for up to a year as the assembly line puts all the bits together far more slowly than the initial production of the parts. Models are not made in parallel, but in series, sequence. They overlap considerable in availability but the actual component sourcing and manufacture is in a 'burst' for each new model.

David

Well, Baby Blue for me is the other one - Dylan - and Badfinger's song was not on my radar at all. But it's great guitar band track, I agree. A great example of what not relying on Fender sounds could mean, the short scale SG is so neglected these days, when Strat copies are all you ever seem to hear.

David

Yeah good song Henry, a bit of distortion there tho. This is the song I was thinking of as a requiem for nearly deceased A700...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y9gkQFnz_Y&feature=related
Greg

ps. The sound is a bit soft...

Yeah, I figured he was talking about the Dylan song, but it also reminded me of this old Badfinger song that, I think, a lot fewer people are familiar with. I was 15 when it came out and it has stuck in my head all these years. I still have the 45 packed away somewhere at my mother's house.

Well, you guys sent me on a trip into the past, listening to four Dylan versions of Baby Blue, the last being a concert with the Grateful Dead on 12 July 1987, when I think Dylan was touring with the Dead. It included some pretty fine guitar licks by Jerry Garcia, whom Dylan regarded as one of the greatest of all guitarists. Also a version sung in Frankfurt by Joan Baez. It was a thrill to hear her clear beautiful voice once again, but a shock to put it side by side with Dylan singing the song in the 60s, with his painfully lyrical tones.

I saw Joan in Durham (N.C.) ca 1968, and was hanging around the places in the Village (N.Y.) where Dylan hung out in the first half of the 60s, but somehow never encountered him. Oh well.

Our camera is gone, but like Dylan's song will be echoing through the future for a very long time. May we all use it well.

Yah, it's easy to get involved once you start...how about this one, (if you saw their last concert, you would never forget this), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nze8B39OB0k&feature=PlayList&p=7F2A5D86B3132F30&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Greg